WCPC (formerly TNSAP) Reconvenes with Rejuvenated Focus on Bigger Picture of Infrastructure

With a new name and a renovated mission, the Wilton Capital Planning Committee — formerly TSNAP — appeared to be taking a more serious and focused start at its first meeting Wednesday evening, June 11.

At the outset, new WCPC Chair Jeff Rutishauser, who once chaired the Board of Finance, sought to impose a firm directive upon a group that includes many elected officials and Wilton’s school superintendent, cautioning members to arrive on time, be prepared and not miss meetings.

“Keep your comments relevant and efficient and quick, and we’ll get out of here,” he said after accepting chairmanship of the committee on the recommendation of First Selectman Toni Boucher.

Unlike the past iteration of this committee, which is charged with evaluating town and school facilities and developing a short- and long-term plan for bondable improvements, the new WCPC may be driven less by the needs and concerns expressed via in-house department staff, and more focused on the ideal big picture for Wilton’s physical infrastructure.

Frank Smeriglio, director of the Department of Public Works, who has previously expressed worries to the Board of Selectmen about being asked to attend too many meetings, cautioned that weekly WCPC meetings were impossible for his schedule.

“We’re too busy,” Smeriglio said, with summer bringing new projects, noting that providing backup material for meetings was time-consuming.

Other members, however, suggested that WCPC’s non-voting advisors — which include Smeriglio, DPW Assistant Director/Facilities Manager Jeff Pardo, Town Administrator Matt Knickerbocker, CFO Dawn Norton, Director of Planning and Land Use Management/Town Planner Michael Wrinn, and Board of Education Plant Manager Jose Figueroa — may not be extensively needed throughout the process.

“There’s a lot of this stuff that needs to be hashed out that we don’t need to have 13 or 14 people at the table for,” said resident member Rich Santosky, an engineer, contractor and developer, who began with the group last year.

Rudy Escalante, a Board of Finance member, concurred.

“We don’t need all of you here,” he said. “A lot of what we have to do is figure out what we have to do. We don’t need technical details to figure that out.”

“What are we gonna approach? How are we gonna approach it? How do we delineate which projects we look at and which ones we don’t. All that stuff is just committee,” he said.

Escalante said that, in its last iteration, the committee didn’t get a lot done at the beginning because it spent considerable time trying to figure out what it was supposed to do.

The general consensus has been that the previous committee lost a good deal of time owing to confusion over its mission and responsibilities — something that prompted Boucher to create a more specific mission statement for the new group.

The previous group was chaired by Patti Temple, board president for Friends of Ambler Farm, who is no longer participating. Other current voting members include BOE Chair Ruth DeLuca, BOE member Patrick Pearson, Superintendent Kevin Smith, BOF Chair Matt Raimondi and Selectwoman Kim Healy.

“I’m glad to see the second season of Mission Impossible back on the schedule again,” resident Sara Curtis said during public comment, noting she had attended most of the last meetings and taken part in site tours as well.

She asked the WCPC to be mindful of public participation, including proper notification of when meetings are scheduled.

“I would say almost 50 percent of the time, there was less than 24-hours notice,” she said, adding that information relevant to discussion was also hard to find or access.

Curtis also suggested the WCPC examine the possibility of having local volunteers potentially help work on smaller projects.

BOE-Town Memo of Understanding on Maintenance Responsibility

Smeriglio had asked that, as an agenda item, the WCPC discuss the creation of an agreement between the BOE and the town regarding maintenance and repair responsibilities on smaller-cost items, generally between $75,000 and $200,000.

As has been previously expressed at BOS meetings, Smeriglio said that confusion over who was responsible for what has brought arguments between town and BOE staff.

“There’s a lot of projects that fall into that list … That just has to be defined, so the four of us aren’t arguing before it even gets to the Board of Selectmen or the Board of Education, on whose role it is to do … It just doesn’t work,” he said, not specifying which four people.

Smeriglio said the question was tied into whether or not items would be bonded.

While other members did not appear to see the issue as relevant to the WCPC mission, DeLuca suggested that the town draw up a document detailing exactly what needed to be solved, and said she and Smith could review their ideas for solutions and work out a memorandum of responsibilities.

In regard to the numerous smaller projects that are part of the original assessments of the facilities, Smith pointed out that they were listed individually but potentially could be categorized under different large-scale projects.

“I think the strategy, and how to do the work, needs to be considered alongside what work needs to be done,” he said.

Boucher expressed agreement, but also plugged in a defense for what she has often categorized as an overworked staff.

“We have to make sure we’re all able and fairly able to attack the task … There’s a certain capacity restraint here,” she said.

Planning to meet next Wednesday, June 18, Rutishauser asked members to review several documents that the group will work from, in part to see if any updates were necessary.

Rutishauser, who described his entire career as having been in real estate in various capacities, also cautioned WCPC members to “limit comments” to outside entities.

“They tend to not terribly be helpful,” he said. “I think you probably learned that. This is an open process, but to the extent that we can, let’s keep our conversations around this table and not outside to other sources.”

He reminded members to hold a town-wide view in relation to the committee, and not just focus on the needs of their particular constituency.

“The goal is to contribute [your] knowledge,” he said, “but as we elect and vote for certain projects, it’s a perspective from what’s good for the town of Wilton regardless of which group that you happen to come from.”